This specification provides the definition of the Product exchange reconciliation message (PRODEX) to be used in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) between trading partners involved in administration, commerce and transport.

The Product Exchange Message is a communication between two trading partners with agreements for the loan of products to each other, to provide information about movements of products from and to various locations on particular dates.

The message gives additional information on the outstanding balances of each product between the trading partners.

No financial value is attached to the products and settlement is usually carried out between like products.

The Product exchange reconciliation message may be used for both national and international applications. It is based on universal practice related to administration, commerce and transport, and is not dependent on the type of business or industry.

Each product exchange is covered by a bilateral contract and exchange accounts are balanced at agreed period ends.

Each contract will define the units in which the product (or group of products) should be measured. This is known as The Unit of Account.

A transaction forms the basis on which Product Exchanges are reconciled. A Transaction is defined as: a change of product title supported by the required data set for Delivery note/Ticket; or subsequently agreed Adjustments, Rebrands or Transfers.

There may be many transactions within an accounting period.

The product exchanged is identified by its product name, supply location, mode of transport, and date.

This section should be read in conjunction with the Segment Table which indicates mandatory, conditional and repeating requirements.

The following guidelines and principles apply to the whole message and are intended to facilitate the understanding and implementation of the message:

All specified dates/times should be in the format 'yymmdd'/'hhmm' unless all parties involved in the transaction agree that there is a functional requirement for an alternative format. Periods should be specified as whole numbers representing the required period as indicated in the format qualifier (weeks, months, etc.)

Where a choice of code or text is given only the code element should be used wherever possible.

Due to the high volume of data that will be usually transmitted in the Product Exchange Reconciliation message, it is highly recommended to use codes for products and locations. Conditional data that is not required in the message should not be included.

Care must be taken that the segment qualifier in dependent segments do not conflict with the segment qualifier of the trigger segment of a group.